Jam & Honey

PreS—This rhyming story about a girl and a bee starts with "The Girl": "I'm going to pick berries,/all by myself,/enough to fill the bucket/high on the shelf." She heads down a city street (followed by her watchful mom) to what appears to be a community garden, picks the fruit, meets the bee, and heads home to make jam. The second part, "The Bee," follows the same pattern from the insect's point of view: "I'm going to get nectar, all on my own…." When the girl and the bee meet, they are frightened, but reassured that if they leave each other alone, all will be fine. The story is simplicity itself. It scans well, and while not superlative, is pleasant. The parallel stories are a nice twist and introduce themes of working together with nature. Sweetly appealing watercolor and pencil illustrations never cross into saccharine. The little girl is reminiscent of Nancy Poydar's characters, and the full-bleed spreads give a sense of the city and the characters' emotions. Done from a variety of vantage points, the artwork draws listeners through the plot.—Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT